This invention relates to manually operated devices for the transportation of articles of various kinds along a floor on a wheeled load-carrying frame, and in particular the invention relates to a hand-propelled truck which in one form includes a frame and a pair of wheels for supporting the frame above a floor wherein the wheels can be indexed to enable the truck to move either in a forward direction or sideways.
An embodiment of devices of the kind with which the invention is concerned is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,189. That embodiment is a two-wheeled hand-propelled truck for the transportation of articles and comprises a generally rectangular frame. The wheels are mounted at the longitudinal frame sides adjacent one end of the frame. At the opposite end of the frame handles are provided for the manipulation of the truck. The wheels can be indexed between a position for forward movement of the truck with the axes of rotation of the wheels extending in a first direction generally transverse to the longitudinal sides of the frame and a position for sideways movement of the truck with the axes of rotation of the wheels orientated at an angle, such as 90 degrees, to the first direction. Indexing the wheels to the position for sideways movement is advantageous e.g. when long objects have to be transported in narrow passages.
Although not so limited, the invention can be embodied in a two-wheeled hand-propelled truck of the kind disclosed in the just-mentioned publication.
The invention provides a hand-propelled truck having wheels which can be selectively indexed for movement in a forward direction or sideways by a simple and easy-to-operate mechanism. In comparison with a hand-propelled truck as disclosed in the above-identified publication, the hand-propelled truck according to the invention is distinguished by the features set forth in the characterising part of the independent claim. The dependent claims recite features of preferred embodiments of the invention.